Video games always have a lot of myths surrounding them. Some people feel strongly against them and others try to find the benefits in them. But when it comes to busting video game myths, we can only rely on facts. The most common video game myth out there is that video games are not healthy. Some video games give players the tools and motives to save worlds, and incentive to foster resourceful habits used by heroes. What if we could learn more about these teachings and develop the positive power that comes with gamers trying to solve real-world problems?
Dr. Allen S. Weiss, president of NCH Healthcare System, said that, “Being immersed in a video game, and having your brain stimulated, can encourage creative solutions and adaptations.” In more basic terms, he meant that video games do not make you less smart; it’s just the opposite. Video games require the player to really think about what they are doing and adapt new tactics and strategies. Clicking random buttons on a controller simply won’t work in most types of video games. This suggests that video games can have a positive effect on the human brain and how it carries out daily functions.
Video games can also serve as a productive and positive escape from reality. To many it is what keeps their lives on track, free from any stressors. Video games have been used as a form of physiotherapy or occupational therapy in many different groups of people. There, the intent it to use video games to focus attention away from potential discomfort.
Another modern day phenomenon inspired by the positive effects of video games on health is the gamification of health and wellness tools. Gamification is defined as “the use of video game design elements in non-game related contexts.” Health gamification sits at the intersection of persuasive psychology and technology. It revolves around the application of specific design features that drive targeted human behaviors impacting our health and wellbeing positively.
All of this research regarding the nature of video games and its effects on our brains seem to go in the positive direction indicating that they have a lot of benefits. However, this is a developing field of study, and findings need to be interpreted with caution due to the relatively small number of studies and methodological limitations of many studies.
So where does the negative connotation between video games and health come from? It comes from several outdated research sources that focus on highlighting the more negative aspects of video game play, especially on children and young adults. Here’s where the media effects research, which often uses punching rubber dolls as a marker of real-world aggression shows its limitations. The subject who is punching a toy designed for this purpose is still within the “magic circle” of play and understands her actions on those terms. Such research shows us only that violent play leads to more violent play.
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Gotto, Cassie. “Disproving the Common Belief: Five Myths about Gaming.” VentureBeat, 13 June 2013, venturebeat.com/community/2013/06/12/disproving-the-common-belief-five-myths-about-gaming.
“Gamification for Health and Wellbeing: A Systematic Review of Literature.” ScienceDirect, 1 Nov. 2016, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214782916300380.
Jenkins, Henry. “Reality Bytes: Eights Myths About Video Games Debunked.” PBS. https://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html
